Primary Science

Planning
Document

University of
Notre Dame

Cameron Shaw
 Australian Curriculum: Science (Year 5)

Sub-strands Content Descriptions Achievement Standard

 Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043) By the end of Year 5, students classify
Biological sciences
substances according to their observable
understanding

Chemical sciences  Solids, liquids and gases have different observable properties and behave in different ways (ACSSU077) properties and behaviours. They explain
everyday phenomena associated with the
Science

 The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the sun) (ACSSU078) transfer of light. They describe the key
Earth and space features of our solar system. They analyse
sciences how the form of living things enables them
 Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted (ACSSU080) to function in their environments. Students
Physical sciences discuss how scientific developments have
affected people’s lives and how science
Nature and  Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and
phenomena knowledge develops from many people’s
development of
Science as a

contributions.
endeavour
(Year 5-6)

science  Important contributions to the advancement of science have been made by people from a range of cultures (ACSHE081)
human

Students follow instructions to pose

Use and influence of  Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect peoples’ lives
(ACSHE083) questions for investigation, predict what
science might happen when variables are changed,
 Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE217)
and plan investigation methods. They use
 With guidance, pose questions to clarify practical problems or inform a scientific investigation, and predict what the equipment in ways that are safe and
Questioning and improve the accuracy of their observations.
predicting findings of an investigation might be (ACSIS231)
Students construct tables and graphs to
Science inquiry skills (Year 5-6)

organise data and identify patterns. They

 With guidance, plan appropriate investigation methods to answer questions or solve problems (ACSIS086) use patterns in their data to suggest
Planning and explanations and refer to data when they
conducting  Decide which variable should be changed and measured in fair tests and accurately observe, measure and record data,
using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS087) report findings. They describe ways to
improve the fairness of their methods and
 Use equipment and materials safely, identifying potential risks (ACSIS088)
communicate their ideas, methods and
Processing and  Construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to represent and describe observations, patterns findings using a range of text types.
analysing data and or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS090)
information  Compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing explanations (ACSIS218)

Evaluating  Suggest improvements to the methods used to investigate a question or solve a problem (ACSIS091)

Communicating  Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093)
 English
Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for
defined audiences and purposes incorporating
accurate and sequenced content and
multimodal elements (ACELY1700)
Students present their findings from the
investigation aided by a graph drawn on an iPad
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative
and persuasive print and multimodal texts,
choosing text structures, language features,
images and sound appropriate to purpose and
audience (ACELY1704)
Write an informative report about an animal
and how their structural adaptation is suited to
their environment.
Science / Technology & Enterprise
Geography
CONCEPT MAP Maths
(option 1) Construct displays, including column graphs, dot
plots and tables, appropriate for data type, with
Religious Education / Spiritual Education and without the use of digital technologies
(ACMSP119)
Students using graph paper will display their
results using a column graph.
Concept: Structural Adaptations
Term: 2 Weeks: 5-10
©The University of Notre Dame 2010 developed by C McGunnigle
Health & Physical Education
History The Arts
Exploration of artwork from various artists and
different approaches used to communicate ideas,
beliefs and opinions (ACAVAM114)
Explore how Australian animals and their external
features are represented in Aboriginal artwork.
 FORWARD PLANNING DOCUMENT

TERM/WEEKS: Term 2 – YEAR LEVEL: Year 5 LEARNING AREA/TOPIC: Science – Biological Sciences.
Weeks 5-10

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM
General Capabilities:
Literacy Numeracy ICT Critical and creative Ethical Behaviour Personal and social Intercultural Understanding
thinking Competence
Cross-curriculum priorities:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and Cultures Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia Sustainability

5E’s- ENGAGE (1-2 lessons)

To capture student interest and find out what they know about animal adaptations

 To elicit students’ questions/ prior knowledge about adaptations that animals may have.
 Diagnostic assessment used- in this lesson you will find out what the students already know about adaptations. This will allow you to take account of students’ existing ideas when planning learning
experiences

WEEK/ AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM SPECIFIC LESSON ASSESSMENT TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES
LESSON LINKS OBJECTIVE (what & how) EXPERIENCES
(include learner diversity)
Science Science as Science
Understand a Human Inquiry
ing Endeavour Skills
Week Living Scientific By the end of the DIAGNOSTIC Introduction https://www.y
things knowledg
5, have e is used lesson students will 1. Students will be shown a YouTube video as a stimulus to introduce outube.com/w
Lesson structural to solve be able to: the topic. atch?v=Olo2hR
1 features problems
- Generate 1.Work samples 2. To begin the discussion, the students will be asked to guess the
and and jJYqA
adaptatio inform questions (KWLH Chart in
ns that personal topic of work we will be focusing on for the next 5 lessons.
help and relating to what science
them to communi they want to journals). Body:
survive in ty
their envi decisions know about 3. Introduce TWLH chart to students, who are already familiar with the
ronment ACSHE
ACSSU 083 adaptations. chart.
043 4. Filling in the ‘what we think we know’ about adaptations on the
board, discussing it as a class around the following topics:
a. Adaptations
b. Survival
c. Habitat
d. Living things.
5. When finished, move onto the ‘what we want to learn’ section in
regard to each topic.
 6. Then in groups, students are to great questions about what they
want to learn using their Who, What, Where, When Chart for writing
questions. With the teacher giving examples.
7. Students are to write down questions on butchers paper. butchers paper

Conclusion
8. When paper is full of questions, students do a gallery walk, reading
all the questions and putting a star next to their top favourite 2 Science
questions. These questions will be addressed in later lessons. journals.
9. Students are to begin writing in their science journals, reflecting on
what they want to learn.

Diversity:
Enable: Provide student with additional prompting to encourage them to
be confident in creating their own questions and contributing to group
and class discussion.

Extend: Prompt students with a range of animals and environments to

generate a wider range of questions.

5E’s- EXPLORE (2-3 lessons)

 To provide hands on, shared experiences of specific examples of animal adaptations.
 To support students to investigate and explore ideas about structural adaptations.
 Formative assessment

WEEK/ AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM SPECIFIC LESSON ASSESSMENT TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES
LESSON LINKS OBJECTIVE (what & how) EXPERIENCES
(include learner diversity)
Science Science as Science
Understand a Human Inquiry
ing Endeavour Skills
Week Living Scientific With By the end of the FORMATIVE Introduction
things knowledg guidance
6, have e is used , pose lesson students will 1. Prior to students entering the classroom, they will be
Lesson structural to solve clarifying be able to: instructed that when they enter the room, they will collect a
2 features problems question - Students will
and and s and be assessed
adaptatio inform make
ns that
help
personal
and
predictio
ns about
- State 4 animals through a slip of paper. The slip of paper contains the following 3 3 pieces of
them to communi scientific that share the rating scale images: paper
survive in ty investigat same adaptation from 0-4
their envi decisions ions o Fish scales
- State in sentence
ronment ACSHE ACSIS23
0= Not observed
o A camel’s hump
ACSSU 083 1 form how the
043 1= One animal o Reptile skin
adaptation assists
correctly identified 2. Once collected, student will use their image to match what
the animal to to its adaptation
survive in its they believe is the corresponding environment. Each group
4= Four animals
environment. correctly identified table will have the following items for students to match
to a shared their image to:
adaptation. o Grass/leaves/twigs Material
o Sand
- Students will
be assessed
o Blue water
through a 3. Once students are seated, the teacher will begin a discussion
rating scale as to why students have chosen their seating place, asking
from 0-4 the question: “What environment do you think this is and
why do you belong there?”.
0= Not observed
4. The teacher then calls on a student at each desk to share.
1= One sentence 5. Students will then think, pair, share the question: ‘What is an
provided to how adaptation?’. The teacher will follow up by selecting new
the adaptation help students from each group to share. Follow up with the
the animal in its
question, ‘if an adaptation was structural, what do you think
environment
4= Four sentences that would mean?’
provided to how 6. The teacher will consolidate by stating and writing on the
the adaptations board the definition of a structural adaptation.
help the animal in
its environment Structural adaptation – ‘The internal and external body parts
of an organism that help it to survive’.
7. The teacher then explains the activities and task to be
completed at each rotation.
 Beaks – Students use a range of instruments
representing beaks to pick up items representing bird
food.
 Camouflage – Students are to colour in an animal cut out
and then using their material provided try to camouflage
the animal/s into their environment.
  Claws - Students are to dig into a container of dirt using
paws, webbed feet and claws. Discussing which one was
easier to use and why this would benefit an animal in
nature.
8. Students spend 10 minutes at each rotation, during each
handout
rotation students are to complete each row of their handout.

Conclusion
9. Students reflect and share their responses to the following
questions, which the teacher will adapt to each specific
rotation when posing the question:
o What happened when...?
o What did you discover?
o What do you think will happen if...?
o What questions do you have about...?
o What could we do to find out…?

Diversity:
Enable: ensure groups are mixed academic abilities and behaviour levels.
Extend: these students are to respond to the question; ‘what animals
wouldn’t benefit from these adaptations and why?’.

5E’s- EXPLAIN (1 lesson)

 To support students to develop explanations for experiences and make representations of developing conceptual understandings
 Formative assessment

WEEK/ AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM SPECIFIC LESSON ASSESSMENT TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES
LESSON LINKS OBJECTIVE (what & how) EXPERIENCES
(include learner diversity)
Science Science as Science
Understand a Human Inquiry
ing Endeavour Skills
Week Living Scientific Students will be able Introduction –
7,
things knowledg
to:
FORMATIVE
have e is used 1. The beginning of the lesson will be dedicated to the modelling of
Lesson structural to solve  Collect creating a poster as a class.
3 features problems Work sample –
accurate
and and 2. With Google Classroom loaded on the board, the teacher will ask
adaptatio inform information to teacher to assess
ns that personal the accuracy of the class what the elements of creating an effective poster are.
help and
include in a
information found
them to communi poster about
survive in ty
their envi decisions surviving in on the poster using 3. Students will collect their iPads and at their table groups each
ronment ACSHE
iPads
ACSSU 083 the Arctic a checklist. group be given 5 minutes to research a given component of the
043 environment. 1. Information
poster to be created about the Australian desert as a class. These
was found
from a credible
given roles will be:
source.  Description of the environment
2. Information  The animals that live in the environment
directly  A food web from apex predator to primary producers (revise
answered the concepts from previous year).
question.  Examples of structural adaptations due to the environment
4. Giving each group one of the 4 topics for 5 minutes on the
environment of a desert.
5. Each group will upload their findings using Google Classroom.
The teacher will then model the arrangement of information on
the poster to the class.

Body
6. Still in their table groups students will now be given the role of
creating their own poster being given a new environment (the
arctic).
7. Each student will be given an element of the poster to research
as demonstrated at the beginning of the lesson.

Enable: Lower students in each group will be given the same

component their group did from the demonstration to repeat.
8. Each group will be provided with a link to their own Google
Classroom slide to create their poster.

Conclusion
9. The teacher will complete the lesson by showing the examples of
the posters to the class.

Diversity:
Extend: students will have the role of finding a fun fact about an animal
found in the artic region.
 5E’s- ELABORATE (1-2 lessons)
 To challenge and extend students’ understandings in a new context or make connections to additional concepts through a student planned investigation
 To use investigative/ inquiry skills
 Summative assessment of science inquiry skills

WEEK/ AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM SPECIFIC LESSON ASSESSMENT TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES
LESSON LINKS OBJECTIVE (what & how) EXPERIENCES
(include learner diversity)
Science Science as Science
Understand a Human Inquiry
ing Endeavour Skills
Week Living Scientific With By the end of the Introduction
things knowledg guidance SUMMATIVE- https://www.y
8, have e is used , pose lesson students will 1. Students watch the YouTube video ‘ Air-Cooled Elephants’. Upon outube.com/w
Lesson structural to solve clarifying be able to: Science Inquiry
watching, students write down the adaptation seen in the video atch?v=SIMGF
4 features problems question
 Make a Skills
and and s and and how it helps it to live in its environment. Udp2KA
adaptatio inform make prediction - Checklist will
ns that personal predictio 2. When finished, open a discussion about what the opposite to a
help and ns about as to the be used to
record the hot and dry climate, reaching the goal of the environment of the
them to communi scientific
effect
survive in ty investigat
accuracy of Arctic. Having students suggest adaptations they already know
their envi decisions ions blubber will
ronment ACSHE ACSIS23 their to suit this climate.
ACSSU 083 1 have on a
prediction.
043 thermomete Body:
- A rating scale
r placed in 3. With students sat at their desks, the teach will ask students to
will be used to
icy water get out their TWLH chart that they have been completing.
assess the
 Reflect and response given 4. This lesson, students will be completing the ‘how we know’,
respond to to the through conducting an experiment.
their initial student’s 5. Introduce the experiment by explain what students will be doing.
prediction, prediction. “In this lesson we will be testing the effects of blubber to stay
using 1. Response was warm in cold water. So you will be measuring the difference in
evidence to detailed and temperature between water with a bag insulated with blubber,
support supports by
and one without”.
their evidence.
6. Students are to write a prediction on what they think will happen
answer. 2. Response
in the form of ‘The blubber shielding the thermometer will cause
contained
some detail the gauge to _________ when placed in the water for 1 minute’.
and supporting 7. Each student is given a role.
evidence. a. Manager - collects and returns all materials the team
3. Response was needs
vague and was b. Recorder – observes and takes notes of what is
happening.
not supported c. Director - ensures the team understands their
by evidence. investigation
d. Speaker - asks the teacher and other team speakers for
assistance
8. Students conduct the experiment in which they place a
thermometer under the water to determine the controlled
variable (the temperature of the icy water).
Next, they place the thermometer inside the bag without the
blubber and leave it in for 1 minute, after which, recording its
reading. The same process is repeated with the bag with the
blubber.

Conclusion
9. The conclusion will be spent giving students time to ensure their
findings have been written down on their TWLH chart in the
‘what we learnt’ column.
10. Students are to reflect on their prediction made. Students will
either confirm their prediction was correct and elaborate on the
process on arriving at this result in the ‘how we learnt’ column.
Students that made an incorrect prediction will explain how the
process changed what they initially thought.

Students in the following lesson will graph their results and discuss the
differences in results.

Diversity
Enable: Student to be provided with the 3 possible terms to place into
the blank to complete their prediction.
Extend: Student to make a prediction as to the effects if the blubber was
to be placed in warm water and justify why they believe so.

Health and Safety

- Ensure water is placed in an area away from electronics or electrical
power boards/circuits
- Immediately clean all spills to reduce the risk of slipping

5E’s- EVALUATE (1 lesson)

  To provide opportunities to review and reflect on their learning about adaptations and their environment and represent what they know about structural adaptations.
 Summative assessment of science understanding

WEEK/ AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM SPECIFIC LESSON ASSESSMENT TEACHING & LEARNING RESOURCES
LESSON LINKS OBJECTIVE (what & how) EXPERIENCES
(include learner diversity)
Science Science as Science
Understand a Human Inquiry
ing Endeavour Skills
Week Living Scientific By the end of the Introduction
things knowledg SUMMATIVE-
9, have e is used lesson students will - Revise terms and vocabulary covered over the past 5 lessons.
Lesson structural to solve be able to: Science
- Review completed KLWH charts.
5 features
and
problems
and
Understanding
adaptatio inform  Complete Body
ns that personal - Results will be
help and Kahoot quiz - Students will complete a KAHOOT quiz to test their science Class iPads and
them to communi under test collated using Kahoot quiz
understanding. The teacher will remove scoring from the Kahoot
survive in ty the Kahoot
their envi decisions conditions to eliminate any competitive element.
app. Raw
ronment
ACSSU
ACSHE
083
 Reflect on - Questions are as follows:
scores will
043 changes in - Define what a living thing is (1 mark)
assessed
understandi
against rating
ng and scale. - Define what a structural feature is (1 mark)
discuss new
- Anecdotal
concepts notes will
learned. record the
- Define a structural adaptation (1 mark)
prominent
ideas learned - Why do animals need adaptations? (2 marks)
by students.

- Name 4 different types of environment which animals might

adapt to. (4 marks)

- Give an example of an animal with a structural adaptation in the

desert and how their adaptation helps them to survive in their
environment. (3 marks)
 - Give an example of an animal with a structural adaptation in the
Arctic and how their adaptation helps them to survive in their
environment. (3 marks)

- Do animals adaptations change over time? Why / why not? (2

marks).

Conclusion
- Reflect on the learning and changes in ideas and understanding
from the beginning of the unit up until now.
- Prompt reflection by the following question:

‘Looking at your TWLH chart, what has been a big change in your
understanding about adaptations?’

Diversity
Enable: Students will be given additional time to complete test
Reference list

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2016, December 16). The Australian Curriculum: Science (Version 8.3), Year 5, All curriculum
elements. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/download/f10

Primaryconnections.org.au. (2015). Primary Connections: Linking science with literacy. [online] Available at: http://www.primaryconnections.org.au [Accessed 12
Sep. 2019].

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2016). Science – Scope and Sequence P-6 (Version 8.1). Retrieved from
https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/science-v8/overview/Science_P-10_Scope-and-
Sequence_Phase_1_March_2016.PDF
 The Australian Space Explorers are looking to send a robot to Mars. They need you design a
robot with animal features which will survive the harsh environment.

They know the environment on Mars is similar to the Australian desert. Research and gather
information on the types of structural adaptations animals in the Australian desert have.

Create a series of designs which incorporate these adaptations

Your design must include adaptations to help it dig, store water, climb and defend itself from
whatever might live on Mars!

To test that your design will work, create a small model of each of your adaptations to go onto
the robot.

Select one of your model adaptations to demonstrate its use in front of the Australian Space
Explorers team, to grant their approval.

You have 8 lessons to complete your designs and adaptation models.

We hope your designs are out of this world!